Method of manufacturing welted shoes



Nov. 6, 1951 R. F. WOLFSKILL ETAL 2,573,752

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING WELTED SHOES Filed Jan. l9, 1948 fifewing lineguide.

3nventor/5 Roy F. Wolfskill, John' Mellor,

Patented Nov. 6, 1951 OFFICE METHOD OF MAN'IZI'FA!CTURING WEL'IED SHOESRoy F. Wolfskill, Richland, and John Mellor, Palmyra, Pa.

Application January 19, 1948, Serial No. 3,036

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a .novel and improved provision of a simpleand economical method of manufacturing welt-constructed shoes; theprovision of a method of manufacturing 'welt-constructed shoes whichreduces manufacturing time and the number .oftmanuiacturing opera-I-tions as compared with conventional methods of manufacturingwelt-constructed shoes; the provision of a method of makingwelt-constructed shoes resulting in a strong, sturdy shoe which is moreflexible than shoes manufactured according to the conventional weltingmethods;- and the provision of a method of making welt-com,

structed shoes which retain their: flexibility and shape even afterlong, hard wear.

Other objects will be in part pointed out and in part apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the novel method of the presentinvention, certain significant steps of which have been illustrativelyexemplified in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a somewhatsemi-diagrammatic view illustrating the step of attachment of upper toinsole prior to lasting, characterizing the present method;

Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1, illustrating thepartially constructed shoe resulting from the attaching operationillustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a broken-away section illustrating the slip-lasting procedureand the manner of preliminarily attaching outsole; and

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 3 illustrative of a shoe followingfinal welting operation by which welt and outsole are attached. 7

As conducive to a better understanding of the novel and simplifiedmethod of shoe manufacture according to the invention, the two moreconventional methods of manufacturing weltconstructed shoes will bereviewed. According to one prior method, the upper .is lasted by one ofthe known lasting procedures to an under face rib provided on an insolewhich prior to lasting is tacked or nailed to the 1 bottom of the last.The welt is then attached to the insole rib in a Goodyear inseamingmachine, for

example, and the outsole is secured to the Welt by Goodyear or otherapproved type of welt stitching. According to the other or stitchdownmethod, the insole of size such that its margin extends beyond the edgeof the last a substantial distance is again tacked to the last, and theupper is lasted into the angle between side of last and extending insolemargin so as to provide an out-turned marginal flange. Usu-' ally thewelt is attached against the upper face of the out-turned upper flange,and the outsole is attached against the under face of the insole alongits extending marginal edge, or a middle sole is so attached and theoutsole is attached to the middle sole.

It will be observed that according to both of the aforesaid methods, theinsole is first tacked to the bottom of the last and the upper is lastedthereto, that is, it is conformed to the last and secured under tensionto the insole by staples or stitching. Whether practiced by hand or bymachine, the lasting operation is laborious and time-consuming.Moreover, shoes made by both of the described known methods arerelatively stiff and non-flexible and, in the case of shoes made by thestitch-down method, have a heavy appearance due to the welt beingattached on top of upper flange and insole margin. Again, by virtue ofthe fact that the shape-retaining properties of the conventionallylasted s-hoe depends to a substantial extent on the expertness andaccuracy of the lasting operation, welted shoes made by the priormethods tend to lose their shape after hard or prolonged wear; The priormethods are also open to objection in their use of tacks or nails,which. if left in the shoe as sometimes happens, are likely to causediscomfort if not serious foot injury.

According to the present invention, the laborious and time-consumingstep of lasting the upper to insole characterizing the prior methods isentirely obviated. Instead, an insole precision cut to size is prior tolasting in-seamed to a pre-cut upper blank and its lining in a simple,hand-guided sewing operation. Referring to Fig. 1, which illustrativelyshows this simple inseaming of upper to insole, reference character It]indicates such a precision-cut insole, in the operation of beinginseamed to a pro-fabricated upper l-l also cut to the general size ofthe finished shoe. It will be observed that the line of in-seamstitching l2 proceeds uniformly along the outer edge of the insole, andis spaced in wardly thereof by only the small distance calculated toprovide enough of insole material to hold the stitching. To assist theoperator in setting this distance, the insole may be provided with amarking l3 in the nature of a line which parallels its outer edge and isspaced inwardly therefrom the calculated distance aforesaid. Hence, incoinciding the line of stitching with the stitch-line [3, the correctsize of the shoe is assured, since such was established in theprecision-cutting of the insole. It will also be seen in Fig. 1 that theupper II is attached in such manner as to leave an outturned flange l4extending therefrom. This flange overhangs the outer edge of the insole(Fig. 2) and is sufficiently deep as to provide a welting margin. Theproper depth of the upper flange can be estimated readily by theoperator in feeding the insole and upper to the stitching needlegenerally designated [5.

Thus, it will be seen that in its present described stage ofconstruction, the upper is attached to insole in a simple, hand-guidedinseaming operation, and the procedure of lasting upper to insole as waspreviously considered necessary is eliminated.

With the upper secured to insole as indicated in Fig. 2, the partiallyconstructed shoe is now ready for lasting. Preferably, it isslip-lasted, that is to say, it is slipped over a last l8 whose sizecorresponds to the size of the final shoe. Due to the precision cut ofthe insole, it will be found that the partially constructed shoe exactlyflts the last, so that the slip-lasting operation may be readily andspeedily effected.

The shoe is now ready for attachment to the outsole 20. Preferably, theoutsole is preliminarily cemented to the under surface of the outturnedflange I4 of the upper, which by reference to Fig. 3, overhangs theouter edge of the insole I and thus provides adequate attaching surface.If desired or considered necessary, the insole may be bottom-filled witha suitable filler material 2 I, such as cork and a binder, so as toprovide a flat attaching surface for the outsole 20. A welt 22 isthereupon assembled on the exposed upper surface of the outturned flangeM of the upper and, in a final operation, both the outsole 20 and thewelt 22 are secured by Goodyear or other approved type of welt stitching23.

The above described method of welt shoe construction is exceedinglysimple and less laborious in practice than are the prior methods and, inaddition, reduces the time and number of operations required inmanufacturing a welt-constructed shoe, chiefly through the eliminationof the laborious lasting of upper to insole necessary according to theprior methods. It will be observed that the requirement of an insole provided with a conventional rib or lip is obviated, and that a flat-facedinsole is employed instead. Since such flat-faced insoles are precisioncut to size, and as the uppers are also blanked out to substantial sizein a preliminary operation, the simple inseaming of upper to insole asdescribed above insures correct size of final shoe as Well assubstantially correct depth of upper welting flange.

"A shoe manufactured by the present novel process is strong and sturdyand highly flexible as well, its increased flexibility over shoes madeby the prior methods resulting from the fact that the insole margin isnot extended to lie between weltand insole, but instead terminates atthe angle between upper and upper flange. Due to the fact that its shapeand shape-retaining properties do not depend on the expertness andaccuracy with which the conventional lasting procedures are carried out,the shoe product of the present invention retains its shape andflexibility 5 over long periods of hard wear. Moreover, since no nailsor tacks are used according to the herein method, there is nopossibility of tacks or nails showing in the final shoe, as are likelyto cause injury to the foot or discomfort in Wear. As many changes couldbe made in carrying out the above described method of welt-shoeconstruction without departing from the scope of the invention, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. The improvement in the art of manufacturing welted shoes, whichconsists in providing a precision cut insole and an upper blank,inseaming the upper blank'to the upper face of the insole along themargin thereof prior to lasting and in such manner as to provide anoutturned upper flange extending beyond the marginal edge of the insole,slip-lasting the upper and attached insole on a last, assembling anoutsole against the exposed under face of the outturned upper flange,assembling a welt on the exposed upper face of the outturned upperflange, and-securing 30 outsole to welt and upper flange by stitching.

2. The improvement in the art of manufacturing welted shoes whichcomprises the steps of providing an insole which is precision cut to thesize of the final shoe and an upper blank, inseaming the upper blank tothe upper face of the insole along the margin thereof prior to lastingand in such manner as to provide an outturned flange extending from theupper proper beyond the marginal edge of the insole, slip-lasting the 40upper and attached insole on a last, cementing an outsole directlyagainst the exposed under surface of the upper flange, assembling a weltagainst the exposed upper surface of the upper flange, and securing theoutsole on intermediate upper flange and welt by stitching.

. ROY F. WOLFSKIIL.

JOHN MELLOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 931,851 Engel Aug. 24, 19091,215,440 Waite Feb. 13, 1917 1,290,654 Pollock Jan. 7, 1919 1,884,301Shaft Oct. 25, 1932 80 1,952,587 De Stefan Mar. 2'7, 1934 2,075,723Jacobsen et a1 Mar. 30, 1937 2,215,924 Grundman Sept. 24, 1940 2,339,726Stritter Jan. 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 649,335France Aug. 27, 1928 856,594 France Mar. 23, 1940 OTHER REFERENCESAmerican Shoemaking periodical vol. CXV No.

10, June 3, 1925; page 25. (Copy in Div. 11.)

